Saturday, 22 January 2011

More on BP´s Russian deal

Kim Zigfeld, writing in the American Thinker, thinks that BP has made the wrong move in Russia:

Oil major BP has announced another foray into the Russian market despite being burned many times in the past by Russia's fundamental corruption. It should reconsider. Both the empirical facts and basic morality dictate disengagement from the Russian market.

A look at Russia's most recent national report card ought to be more than enough proof for any investor that Russia is no-man's land.

From the Heritage Foundation emerges Russia's score in economic freedom: an F. Russia is ranked #143 out of 183 countries reviewed, roughly the bottom quartile of the planet. The instructor opines that the student (Russia's judicial system) is "unpredictable, corrupt and unable to handle technically sophisticated cases." Did somebody say "dunce cap"?

After pointing out the sorry state of affairs in Russia, Zigfeld notes the sad truth:

Sadder still, though, is the craven reaction of the Western democracies. Despite pleas to act, they have ignored for instance the brutal persecution of former first deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov and Russia's Bill Gates, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, for no other reason than their public criticism of the Kremlin.